BBC America nabs ‘Ripper Street’

Cabler to co-produce period drama for fall bow

BBC America will revisit London in the era of Jack the Ripper in a new drama series from Tiger Aspect Prods. and Lookout Point.

BBC America has boarded “Ripper Street” as a co-producer, and BBC Worldwide will handle international distribution.

The series created by Brit drama vet Richard Warlow (“Mistresses,” “Waking the Dead”) was commissioned for eight episodes by the Beeb last September. It began lensing skedded in Dublin earlier this month and will bow as part of the cabler’s “Dramaville” block of original drama series.

Skein starring Matthew Macfadyen (“MI-5,” “The Pillars of the Earth”) and Jerome Flynn (“Game of Thrones”) is set in London’s East End in 1889, during the aftermath of the murder spree that remains one of history’s most notorious serial killer cases. Series revolves around the police precinct tasked with keeping order in the rough Whitechapel neighborhood, and it will delve into the lives of characters affected by the murders.

Tiger Aspect’s Will Gould and Greg Brenman are exec producers, along with Lookout Point’s Simon Vaughan and BBC’s Polly Hill.

“To this day, audiences continue to be fascinated by Jack the Ripper and the events in Whitechapel in the late 19th Century,” said Richard De Croce, BBC America’s senior veep of programming. “This script and cast are going to take us for a great ride.”

“Ripper Street” is produced with the participation of the Irish Film Board.

Vaughan took the lead in shopping “Ripper Street” to U.S. outlets (Daily Variety, Feb. 7). His Lookout Point banner focuses on assembling high-end international co-productions, such as the Julian Fellowes-penned “Titanic” miniseries set to bow on ABC and on numerous international outlets next month.